Improvement in rocking-chairs



A. MORRIS. Rocking-Chair.

No. 208,626. Patented Oct. 1,1878.

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UNITED STATES PATENT QFFIGEQ ABRAHAM MORRIS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN ROCKING-CHAIRS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 208,626, dated October 1, 1878 application filed August 1, 1878.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ABRAHAM MoRRIs, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Rocking-Chairs, which improvement is fully set forth in the following specification.

This invention relates to that class of rocking-chairs in which the rockers roll upon a base-frame.

Its object is to provide against the shifting or displacement of the rockers when the chair is in use without interfering with the smoothness of their rolling contact with the base-rails, and also to practically conceal the devices employed for this purpose and give the chair the appearance of the ordinary stationary-base rocking-chair.

In consists in forming in the contact faces of the rockers and base-rails, about midway of their length and between side margins, coincident recesses of similar size, and hinging within these recesses, respectively, the opposite ends of toggle-joints, formed of flat plates of proper dimensions to fold snugly within said recesses when the chair rests on its center, said joints opening and swinging on theirend hinges to permit the rocking of the chair either forward or backward, but preventing the shifting or creeping of the rockers and accidental lateral displacement and the base-rails are provided with stop-plates, which project partly across the mouth of the said recesses and in the path of the toggle-joints, whereby the backward swing of the chair is limited, all of which will be hereinafter described.

In the drawing, Figure 1 is a side view of my improved chair, partly in section, when the rocking-frame is at rest. Fig. 2 is a like view thereof when the roeking-frameis swung backward to the limit of its movement. Fig. 3 is an end view of the rockers and base, one rocker and its supporting base-rail being in section.

A designates the rocking-frame, and B is the base-frame, of my chair, connected together by spiral springs c c, and d d are the connectingplates of the toggle-joints. These plates are arranged in pairs, and each pair is pivoted together in the manner of a hinge-joint, as at 0, while at their outer ends the plates are connected, respectively, to one of the frames, as at ff. The letters 9 g designate the recesses formed in the bearing-surfaces of the frames A B, and which receive and entirely conceal the plates d 01 when the rocking-frame A is at rest, the plates being hinged to the frames at the ends of these recesses, respectively.

The connection of the plates d d with the frames A B is effected through the medium of supplemental frames h h, to which they are pivoted, and which are secured in the recesses g 9,- but this can also be accomplished in other ways.

The letter idesignates stops composed of plates, which are secured on the bearing-surfaces of the frames A B and project over one edge of each of the recesses g g, so that when the rocking-frame A is moved rearward or forward and the connecting-plates are spread apart the latter come in contact with said stops.

It will be perceived that by the connectingplates d d the forward and back motions of the rocking-frame A are regulated, and said frame is prevented from moving either lengthwise or laterally on the base-frame, while, by arranging the plates in the recesses g 9, they do not interfere with the contact of the bearingsurfaces of the frames, and, moreover, are concealed to a great extent. By combining with the connecting-plates dd the stopsithe plates are prevented from being spread apart to their full extent, and hence the pivots by which they are connected together and to the frames are relieved of a great amount of strain, while the backward movement of the chair is limited, and all danger of upsetting avoided.

It has been a great objection to many styles of chairs of this class that the devices for preventing shifting of the rockers are too cumbrous and conspicuous, and a constant efiort is being made to overcome this objection and render marketable a chair having the otherwise very desirable features of the class.

Rocking-chairs have been constructed in which the rocking-frame has been connected to the base-frame by means of toggle-joints; but in all such the toggle-joints are exposed to view and are cumbersome, imparting an unsightly appearance to the chair, besides being more expensive than my simple construction, by which I produce a rocking-chair which is cheap in construction and in which the connection between the rockers and base'rails is concealed, thereby imparting a neat and attractive appearance to the chair, while effectually preventing any lateral or longitudinal movement of the rockers.

What I claim is- The rockers A and baserails B of a rockingchair, connected by the vertical springs 1 and each having in their upper and lower surfaces, respectively, about midway of their length and between side margins, coincident recesses g, of similar size, in combination with the togglejoints (1, having their opposite outer ends hinged within the said recesses, said togglejoints being constructed to fold snugly and entirely within the recesses, and the stop-plates t, projecting partly across the mouth of the recesses and in the path of the toggle-joints, substantially as and for the purpose described. In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 30th day of July, 1878.

ABRAHAM MORRIS. [L. s.] Witnesses:

CHAS. WAHLERs, J. VAN SANTVOORD. 

